13 JANUARY 1917, Page 2

Mr. Prothero explained his agricultural programme to a meeting of

Bedford farmers last Saturday. The duty of the farmer, he said, was to grow all the food he c-auld for man and beast. The farmer was not to be bribed by the possibility of getting a very high price, but he was to be insured against loss. For the whole wheat crop harvested in 1917 the farmers would receive a fixed price of- 60s. a quarter, provided of course that the wheat was delivered in good condition. Mr. Prothero repeated his statement—to which we have taken exception—that brewing was not wholly wasteful, but qualified it by saying that to cut off " suddenly " the supply of brewers' grains would imperil milk production.